Eco-ficient Metro Express proving popular with riders

STOCKTON - The Metro Express diesel-electric hybrid bus, also known as Stockton's Route 40, is the second of three buses that Danika Powell takes to and from school every day.

Anna Kaplan

STOCKTON - The Metro Express diesel-electric hybrid bus, also known as Stockton's Route 40, is the second of three buses that Danika Powell takes to and from school every day.

Powell, 15, used to live near and attend Bear Creek High School, but when her family moved closer to Stagg High, she decided to remain at Bear Creek by taking city buses. Three buses each way make for a long commute, but she's glad not all the vehicles she sets foot in during the day are polluting the environment.

"They're fuel efficient, so they're actually helping the world," Powell said as she waited for the bus on Pacific Avenue outside Lincoln Center.

The popular route hit the streets six months ago, traveling from the Hammer Lane triangle to the Downtown Transit Center and running every 15 minutes during peak business hours.

It has proven itself to save money and fuel, as well as provide an efficient central line through the city, according to both those who run the service and those who depend on it for transportation.

About 44,000 people are riding the Metro Express every month.

This bus line is Stockton's first step toward a rapid transportation system, funded primarily by a grant from the San Joaquin Council of Governments and Measure K, the county's half-cent sales tax devoted to transportation projects. The idea behind it is similar to a light rail: direct routes with fewer stops.

Route 40 stops at the Hammer Lane triangle, Pacific Avenue at Lincoln Center, the malls, University of the Pacific, Cesar Chavez Central Library and the Downtown Transit Center. It takes about 25 minutes to ride the length one way.

The goal was to make the route function as the main connector for other city buses by sending it up and down the central artery of Pacific Avenue, making it possible for riders like Powell to connect between a central Stockton bus and a north Stockton bus.

Denise Frazier, 40, a Delta College student who lives near Lincoln Center and takes the bus to her classes, said the timeliness, as well as location, makes connections possible.

"I like the 15-minute time span. They're always on time, which makes it easier to transfer to another route," she said.

As it turned out, there was another consequence to having quick service between uptown and downtown.

"Anecdotally, we're seeing a different group of passengers," said Paul Rapp, a spokesmanfor the San Joaquin Regional Transit District, which operates the city's buses. "We're seeing more of a jacket-and-tie crowd that we weren't seeing before."

The company has yet to conduct rider surveys to determine exactly how many north Stockton residents take the bus to their downtown jobs as an alternative to driving, but Frazier and other riders said they see more professional-looking people on Metro Express buses than on other city routes.